


The Nutcracker

by Isobel_Ashgrass



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ballet, Alternate Universe - Dance, Ballet, Creativitwins, Dance School, Dance school AU, Genderfluid Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Non-Binary Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Nutcracker AU, au time againnnn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:36:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28554753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isobel_Ashgrass/pseuds/Isobel_Ashgrass
Summary: Basically Sanders Sides but make it a ballet school AU, and make them do the Nutcracker ballet (I started this around Christmas and I was missing performing with my ballet company)This was inspired by Underneath the Spotlights by @disney_princess_pattonThere may or may not be more of this idk
Kudos: 6





	The Nutcracker

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Underneath The Spotlight](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28148874) by [disney_princess_patton](https://archiveofourown.org/users/disney_princess_patton/pseuds/disney_princess_patton). 



> Pronouns for this chapter:  
> Patton: he/him  
> Logan: he/him  
> Virgil: they/them  
> Roman: she/her  
> Remus: he/him  
> Janus: he/him
> 
> Fun fact Logan’s French and just... something about French Logan y’all >>>

The halls of Orenzo School of Dance were bustling as normal. Older students walked languidly, talking and laughing about classes. Younger members of the school darted between them, grabbing onto their bags and shoes as they hurried to class. Teachers greeted their students at the door of their classes, whether they be dancing or doing academic lessons.

Patton Hart was walking towards Dance Studio B for his first class of the day. He never really understood the classification of studios - it seemed to go backwards for some odd reason. Still, he loved dancing and was honoured to go to one of the most prestigious schools in his area. And to be doing it alongside some of the most talented people he knew...Patton smiled to himself as he approached the studio doors. He was so darn lucky.

“Good morning Patton. I hope you rested well?” His teacher greeted him at the door. 

“I did, thank you Mrs. Woodman,” Patton nodded to her as he entered. He immediately spotted his friends in a corner, and Roman waved to him as he noticed Patton.

Patton laid his things down next to Roman’s. The other was twisting their hair into a neat bun, with their pointe shoes laid out messily beside them. Remus was sat with a needle in his mouth, attempting to tack some ribbons to said shoes.

“Morning!” Patton said as he pulled off his boots. “Can I check your pronouns?”

“She/her,” Roman said through a mouthful of pins. She groaned as she slotted the final few into her bun and shook her head. “I swear to Zeus buns are the worst.”

“If you think that’s bad, you should try sewing your ribbons yourself bitch!” Remus held up a hand, which has spots of blood on his thumb and fingers from where he had poked them.

“Thank you Re, you’re a lifesaver,” Roman said with a roll of her eyes. She took the shoe from Remus and set them aside for later. Remus just huffed and put the sewing kit away, taking out his own shoes and starting to warm up.

Patton quickly pulled on his flats and hurried to the barre beside Remus. He gently put himself through a basic plié exercise, then stretched out his legs. By this time, Roman had joined them at the barre and Virgil had also entered the studio. Patton nodded to them as they threw a peace sign in his general direction.

“Right class!” Mrs. Woodman clapped her hands. “Good morning to you all. Now, I know you are all aware that the senior school perform the Christmas show each year.” Students nodded. “Rehearsals for this tend to begin around now. So today I thought we’d spend class running auditions and workshopping ideas.”

Several whispers started up around the room, and Patton certainly wasn’t exempt from it.

“What do you reckon we’ll be doing?” Roman whispered to him.

“I don’t know. They did Sleeping Beauty last year, so perhaps Swan Lake or the Nutcracker? Maybe Coppélia?” Patton whispered back.

“I swear if it’s Coppélia and half of us are left being dolls for the entire thing-“ Virgil hissed.

“So the show we decided on this year was a classic that I’m sure many of you would have seen and perhaps danced in before - the Nutcracker!”

Smiles went up around the room as people started reminiscing about their experience with the Nutcracker ballet. Patton himself had seen it countless times before, but never performed. The first time he saw it, he must’ve been around nine or ten years old. He remembered the Nutcracker, being a strong gentleman for Clara, and the Snow Prince. The Snow Prince had always fascinated him - from the soft silver and white of the costume to the way he held himself in the snowflake waltz. That first day was when Patton had decided he wanted to dance professionally.

“Thank fuck, I’ve done that before,” Virgil commented, doing tendus lazily. “The youth ballet did it when I was sixteen. Unfortunately I got Clara, which meant my hair had to be long, but it was a great experience.”

"Excited to be doing it again then emo?" Roman joked. Mrs. Woodman clapped her hands again.

"Alright, I understand that you are excited but please! We need to do a warm up class before anything else. All of you at the barre, pronto. Boys on the right side, girls on the left!"

Roman and Virgil sighed and split from Patton and Remus. Having learnt female ballet at a young age, they were unable to switch over to whatever they were more comfortable with at the time. It wasn't something you could just 'pick up' on the day - both required years of vigorous training to perfect technique for the jobs each role required.

An hour and a half later, and they finally got a small break. Roman and Virgil hurried to start putting their pointe shoes on while the other boys sat down with a water bottle. Janus and Logan had joined them. Logan was a French student, living here simply to come to their dance school, whilst Janus had transferred from a different dance school with a scholarship. Patton had been quick to welcome the two boys into their group.

"I must say, I am glad that I do not have to wear pointe shoes," Logan commented. Virgil glared at him from under their hair. 

"No need to rub it in," they grumbled, standing to warm their arches up. Roman stood up afterwards, doing the same. Both took a sip from their water and headed to the center.

"So how's everyone been?" Patton asked as the four boys watched the other two dance. They seemed to glide across the floor with ease, stepping to and fro between the other girls. Roman fell and broke out in a smile as Virgil stepped down, wheezing. Roman punched their arm and tried the move again, failing. Virgil laughed even harder, until Mrs. Woodman came to tell them to do the routine.

"My week has been...how do you say it? Satisfactory??" Logan looked at Janus questioningly. Janus nodded.

"Oh I'm glad!" Patton said. He put a finger to his lips and tapped his bag. "I brought cookies."

"Only you would think cookies could get you in trouble," Remus said.

"It's kind of you to bring them," Janus said. "Save them for lunch though. We don't want to be dancing on a full stomach."

"That is true. I have done it in France once, with my friend. It was....messy, to say the least."

They stood up and joined the rest of the class in the center as the auditions started.

"We're going to do this in a fairly relaxed manner, seeing as you all are more than capable of having any role. However, that does not mean to be lax. Do your best and consider the roles you would like to audition for." Mrs. Woodman pointed to two other teachers. "Mr. Smith will be taking the boys wishing to audition for main roles to Studio C.1. Miss McKinnely will take the girls wishing to audition for main roles to Studio C.2. Those who don't wish to audition for main roles, feel free to just stay in here."

Patton took his flats and his water bottle and went to line up at the door with Remus, Janus and Logan. He watched Virgil and Roman gather their things, talking to some other girls. They’d be fine. Both of them were extremely talented, perhaps two of the best in the school. He had no doubt that if they did audition for Clara or Sugar Plum at least one, if not both of them, would land the role. Even with Virgil’s hair, the teacher’s were full aware of their talent and they wouldn’t pass up on the opportunity to show off their school.

“Boys! If you follow me this way, we will head to Studio C.1 to run the auditions!”

***

“So like, you’re auditioning for a main role?” Roman asked one of the girls - Anna, her name was. She was slightly younger than Roman herself, but Roman could still appreciate her strength. For her age, she was extremely experienced; some would even go as far as to call her a natural. She had clearly earned her place here, just as every dancer had.

“Yeah! I got no hope of beating you or Virge, or even Sandra, but I’d like to give it a shot! Besides, I have a couple years here yet.”

Roman nodded, tying her skirt. “Well don’t be so worried about ‘beating’ us. You’re here and that’s incredible. Each of us is equally capable of getting a lead role.”

“Ro you ready?” Virgil walked over to her. They had pulled on a black practice tutu - they had made it themself. Roman had sat through the many days and nights they took to make it just perfect. She had to admire their craftsmanship. Roman couldn’t have made something like that.

“Yeah,” Roman smiled at Anna. “Good luck!”

“You too!”

Virgil grabbed Roman’s arm and dragged her over to where everyone was in a crowd by Miss McKinnely.

“Can I have you split into auditions for Clara, auditions for Sugar and auditions for both?” Miss McKinnely pointed to where she wanted each line.

“You going for Sugar?” Roman asked Virgil, looking pointedly at their tutu.

“No shit. Clara?”

“Both, actually. Figured might as well while I have the chance,” Roman shrugged.

“Good luck then.”

“You too! I’m sure you’ll do fine emo.” Virgil smiled a little at the last remark, going to join the line. Roman rolled out her shoulders and stood next to a taller girl. Her name was Katie, she recalled. Roman smoothed her red skirt nervously. Breathe in, breathe out. It was just a silly audition. She had done these thousands of times before.

“Okay, Lucinda, Isobel, Zoe, Katie, Roman - nice to see you here - Emily, Sasha, Hannah, Emma - I’m proud of you for trying Emma! Good luck - Sandra...” Miss McKinnely continued down the lines, creating a list for each one.

“Okay! Sugar Plums, you may rest for the minute and watch the others. We’ll start with an excerpt from Clara’s variation, seeing as it requires less energy. If you could come and stand in the centre please.”

Time seemed to fly as they learnt the variation. Roman danced cleanly, picking it up like second nature. She stumbled a few times but that was expected. Nerves made it harder to balance. She was having fun for the first time in _months_ and it felt exhilarating _._ Not that she couldn’t dance over the summer break, but it just wasn’t the same. This felt...different. She had space to leap and twirl and pour her heart into-

“Oof!” She collided with another body. Well, technically she didn’t collide with the other body but the other body barrelled into her. She tumbled backwards, gasping as she fell out of her pirouette. A soft snap was heard. The other girls stopped and Miss McKinnely put her hand up to signal to the pianist to pause. Virgil rushed over immediately.

“Ro, god, you alright? Did you twist something?”

“I think my ankle? But it doesn’t seem too bad,” Roman smiled. “Help me up, Gerard Gay.”

Virgil helped pull Roman up. She turned her ankle experimentally in a couple of circles, before stepping up onto pointe. It seemed to be fine. 

“I’ll be able to dance. Who-?”

“Anna.”

Roman turned to see the younger girl sat on the floor still. Wisps of her brown her were falling out of her bun and tears streamed down her face. She was silent though, save for a few hiccupy sobs. Roman went over to her, crouching down.

“Hey,” she said gently. Anna sniffed, scrubbing at her eyes. “That was a nasty fall. I don’t blame you for crying, I probably would’ve done it a lot louder myself.”

“I messed up and now I’m hurt. I think I might have broken...”

“You did good,” Roman reassured her. “But you need to get that ankle fixed. There’s always next year to audition.”

Anna bit her lip. “I guess.”

“Katie! Come and help Anna to the infirmary!” The taller girl picked Anna up with ease and carried her out. Roman watched as the door swung shut.

“Roman, are you sure you’re okay to continue?” Miss McKinnely asked. She nodded.

“I’m sure.”

***

The rest of the audition ran smoothly. Virgil was amazing, doing a triple pirouette with ease. Roman avoided any more clashes with other dancers and all in all she thought it went rather well.

When the boys joined them again, Virgil and Roman were pulling off their pointe shoes and packing up. Roman stretched her toes out in relief. No matter how long she’d been doing pointe, the pain didn’t get much easier to handle. Of course, it was far easier than when she had first started but god did it still ache.

“How did it gooooo~?” Remus sang as he joined them.

“Princess-Sing-a-Lot fell into a younger kid and she might have fractured her ankle or something,” Virgil said. They zipped up their tutu bag and shoved their pointe shoes in another bag. Remus laughed.

“Oh of course she did. Ro can’t dance to save her life!”

“Hey!” Roman put a hand to her chest in mock outrage. “I’ll have you know she fell into me. I was in the right place!”

“Sure, sure-“

“Moving on, how did yours go?” Virgil interrupted.

“Not awful. The variations were interesting,” Janus commented as he leaned against the wall. “And Remus certainly...held to his own.”

“Pat, Logan?”

“Mine went good! I really enjoyed the Snow Prince variation!” Patton said happily.

“It was satisfactory. There are errors in how I performed, but I do not believe I did terribly,” Logan said.

“Oh come on specs, you did amazing!” Remus pointed at Logan. “Bet twenty dollars that Logan gets Nutcracker.”

“No,” Janus said. “That’s stupid because we know that he’s gonna get it anyway. Whoever bets against you will inevitably lose.”

“You’re on,” Roman shouted at the same time. The teachers glared at them from across the room.

“Perhaps we should move out. We have a break now before afternoon classes,” Patton picked up his things as the others stood up. They walked out of the classroom, thanking Mrs. Woodman on the way.

Unsurprisingly, Logan was not the only one overthinking his audition. As they walked to the cafeteria, a thousand thoughts were running through Virgil’s head. What they had done right, what they had done wrong? Did they have their weight in the exact correct place, was their arm turned out correctly? Were they holding their body correctly, did they do the choreography well?

They nodded and gave some form of acknowledgment when appropriate. Honestly they hadn’t been listening to the conversation since they told Remus about Anna falling in the audition. They just lost track, hyperfocusing on their performance in the audition. And yes, it was partially just their anxiety talking but part of it was normal fears that most dancers had. Virgil loved dancing and Sugar Plum had been their dream since they were in the Nutcracker all those years ago. They had been honoured to get Clara, don’t get them wrong, but Sugar Plum was just something different.

“Hello? Virgil, you there?” Janus waved a hand in front of their face. They blinked, focusing back in.

“Yeah yeah, you all did really good.”

Janus frowned. “Hey, I think the queue’s shortened down now. Wanna come grab food?”

Virgil nodded. “Sure?”

Janus grabbed their arm and dragged them up. As they got in line, Virgil started focusing on the auditions again. 

“Thoughts getting too much?” Janus asked gently. Virgil jumped.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Mhm. And I’m the Queen of Sheba. I’m sure you did okay, Virge.”

“But what if I didn’t? It’s been my dream, J, and I don’t wanna....nevermind, I’m being selfish. If someone else gets it, they deserve it. Of course they would.”

“Virgil.” Janus put a hand on Virgil’s shoulder. “I love you, really, but Jesus fucking Christ you’re stupid.”

“Hey!”

Janus shook his head as he took a tray from the lady serving them. “You’re like, one of the best dancers in the school. How could they _not_ give you the role?”

“Because my technique was kinda messed up?”

“Oh my _godddddd_ ,” Janus groaned. “Right. We are going to ask Roman how she thinks you did. Because we know she isn’t afraid to tell the truth.”

He picked up a smoothie and marched back to their table, tray in hand. Virgil quickly grabbed a sandwich and strawberry milk, muttering a quiet thanks to the woman serving.

“They did amazing! My god you should’ve seen their pique manège, it was _amazing._ I have no idea how they manage it but I will personally sue this school if they don’t land the role.”

Janus raised an eyebrow at Virgil as they sat down. They blushed and angrily poked their straw into the milk carton.

“Did anyone catch when the results would be posted?” Janus smoothly moved the conversation onwards.

“Friday,” Logan said. “I asked Mr. Smith.”

He pronounced ‘Smith’ more like ‘Smeeth’. Virgil had always enjoyed their friend’s accent, although it took adjusting to at first. Repeating sentences, mispronunciations....yeah Virgil couldn’t lie, they were exasperated at times. Logan’s voice made them feel calm and safe, despite all of that. They weren’t sure why, but hey, the brain was a weird thing. Besides, Logan had taken their pronouns on really well, all things considered. 

“We do not have singular they/them pronouns in my country,” he had told them when they met. “But I will do my best to learn. Please correct me when I am wrong.”

Logan might not fully understand but he did his best to make them comfortable. And honestly that was more than some of their family did so they were happy.

“Hm, I thought that they said next Friday?” Remus questioned. “Like, don’t get me wrong specs, you’re probably right but didn’t they say next week?”

“They most certainly did not. You could go and ask again, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind,” He pulled out a book (in French, Virgil observed) and began reading calmly.

“So uh, plans for this evening?” Roman asked, breaking the tension that had sparked slightly.

“I might go back to our dorm and bake,” Patton said. “I know I have the store-bought cookies but home-made are so much better.”

“That they are Patton!”

“I have a pointe shoe appointment at half six, mine are dying and I wanted to discuss some things with my maker,” Virgil said. “Ro, wanna come? Or are you gonna sit in our dorm and cry whilst watching Titanic again?”

“There was more than enough room for Jack on that door! It was an unfair death and it was _sad_!”

“You don’t see me crying at it.”

“Because you’re cold and heartless,” Roman whined, crossing her arms. Patton patted her shoulder.

“Their, their,” He said, smiling at the pun. Roman groaned, but the corners of her lips turned up. 

“Have you got any cookies?”

“Oh, sure!” Patton reached into his bag and pulled the cookies out, nearly hitting his head on the table. “Here! Take as many as you want, I wanna throw out the packaging.”

“Thank you so much you’re honestly golden Pat,” Roman bit into the cookie, just as the bell rang. Virgil smirked.

“Good luck finishing that before class.”


End file.
